Gypsy Songs Presented by Liszt Academy

Gypsy music? Folk music or popular composed music? What is it in music that we can refer to as typically ‘Gypsy’? This inventive recital of songs seeks answers to these questions, in which we come across 19th century recruitment-inspired works as well as contemporary compositions going back to the authentic folk music of the Roma community. Ferenc Liszt outraged the Hungarian public of the day when he identified recruitment music considered to be Hungarian folk music as Gypsy music. Today, this theory, which does not stand up to scientific scrutiny, is worth rethinking as one of the first musical manifestations of cultural coexistence, multiculturalism, the composed music ‘trickle down’ of which can be perceived not only in the work of Liszt but many of his contemporaries (Brahms, Dvořák). Imre Széchényi has a special position amongst them: his setting to music of Lenau complements the Liszt version of the same poem in an interesting way. The panorama is made whole with Ravel’s violin piece Tzigane and modern day compositions from Máté Hollós and György Orbán.